Breast ultrasound scanning

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for acquisition of volumetric breast images for screening and/or diagnosing breast cancers using a rotary scanning template and transducer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application62/647,813 filed Mar. 25, 2018; and U.S. Provisional Application62/503,869 filed May 9, 2017. This application is a continuation-in-partof U.S. application Ser. No. 15/244,950 filed on Aug. 23, 2016 (which ispublished as US 2014/0323866), which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/077,050 filed on Nov. 11, 2013 (which ispublished as US 2014/0323866). This application relates to InternationalApplication No. PCT/US13/69468 filed on Nov. 11, 2013 (which ispublished as WO 2014/133605); U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,579,819; 9,420,991; and9,498,184. U.S. application Ser. No. 14/077,050 is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 13/296,023 filed Nov. 14, 2011 (now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 8,579,819), which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/513,481 filed Aug. 30, 2006 and claimed the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/713,282 filed on Sep. 1, 2005. The entirecontents of all of the above patents and patent applications are herebyincorporated by reference herein. Also incorporated by reference hereinare the contents of all of the patent applications and patents and otherpublications cited below. With respect to common subject matter that isexpressly stated or is incorporated by reference herein, thisapplication claims the benefit is each of said earlier-filed U.S.applications that form an unbroken chain of continuing orcontinuation-in-part applications and of their respective provisionalapplications.

FIELD

This patent specification relates to medical imaging. More particularly,this patent specification relates to breast ultrasound imaging usingchestward compression of a breast and automated scanning with atransducer integrated with a radial scanning template.

BACKGROUND

Automated breast ultrasound scanning systems, generally referred to as“ABUS”, have been developed for mass screening and are intended to beoperated by medical technicians or certified nurses on asymptomaticpatients, with the results read by physicians later. This operatingprocedure is similar to operating a screening x-ray mammography machine,where image acquisition is performed with lower-cost personnel and theresults are interpreted by physicians later. These ABUSs have beencommercially introduced for a number of years and over a thousand ofsuch units are believed to be in active use worldwide.

Some such ABUSs are operated with patients in a supine position (patientfacing up with her back on the table) and some are operated withpatients in a prone position (patient facing down with her chest on thetable).

The known supine ABUSs are quite slow and may lack sufficient patientthroughput for low-cost screening purposes. The known supine ABUSsrequire multiple number of scans over each breast to cover the wholebreast; some breasts require 2 scans and some larger breasts may require5 scans. The prone ABUSs are faster with a one-size-fits-all design.See, for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgEYWpzLtrk. Thisdesign suffers frequent patient positioning problems as well as breastcontact problems, because the operator cannot see the breast as it ismaking contact with the scanning device and positioning is done “blind”.Sometimes, these positioning and contact problems cause the scan to misssignificant parts or even the most important parts of the breast such asthe upper outer quadrant where 50% of the breast cancers generallyreside. The known prone ABUSs are also poor in stabilizing the breastduring scanning, resulting in poor 3D reconstruction and poor CADresults (computer analysis detection and diagnosis, which is usuallycomputed from 3D volumetric data).

Another issue for known ABUSs, supine or prone, is nipple pain as wellas poor image acquisition in the nipple area. Pain of different levelsis experienced by patients as the transducers scan over the nipple. Insome cases, the acquisition process can be very painful. Furthermore,the bump in scanning caused by the nipple can frequently make the nipplearea not readable in known ABUS images, with the possibility of missingsome cancers under the nipple. The nipple bump can frequently causedistortions in 3D reconstruction and thus can result in poor CADresults.

Poor image acquisition, due to patient motion or poor breast contact,and poor positioning, are usually discovered when the physicians arereading the results, after the patients have been discharged. Thus, ifproblems are discovered, the patient must be called back for anotherexam. This can cause a substantial increase in cost to the screeningprocess in addition to the inconvenience to patients.

Yet another significant issue with known ABUSs is that areas under thenipple and axilla areas are frequently missed or inadequately acquired.Missing these areas could result in as much as 20% or more of thecancers being missed. Again, the patient may have to be called back foranother examination.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments comprise an automated system for scanning a patient'sbreast with ultrasound, comprising: a scanning pod including a housingand a membrane that is secured to one side of the housing, transmitsultrasound, and is permeable to coupling gel, a scanning templatemounted in or to the housing to rotate relative to the membrane andhaving a nipple hole, wherein said template is essentially planar or hasan opening angle of more than 150 degrees or a radius of more than 20cm, at least one transducer radially extending outwardly from the nipplehole and integrated with the template to rotate therewith, and a motorconfigured to rotate the template and the at least one transducerrelative to the membrane; wherein said scanning pod is configured topress the patient's breast with said membrane toward the patient's chestwall to thereby at least partly flatten the breast, with the breast'snipple in the nipple hole of the template; wherein said at least onetransducer is configured to make ultrasound contact with the breastthrough the membrane and coupling gel permeating the membrane when thescanning pod is pressing the breast, and to rotatably scan the breastwith said at least one transducer by rotating the template to therebygenerate plural, radially oriented, original two-dimensional (2D) imagesof the breast; a computer processing system configured to receive said2D original images and to process them into at least onethree-dimensional (3D) image of the breast and other images of thebreast; and a display coupled with the processing system to display saidimages.

The membrane can have a nipple opening aligned with said nipple hole inthe template, wherein the breast's nipple protrudes through said nippleopening and nipple hole while the template rotates and the at least onetransducer is in ultrasound contact with the breast. In someembodiments, the membrane faces down to press the breast of a patientwho is on her back or side down against the patient's chest wall but inother embodiments the membrane faces up, to press up the breast of apatient who is lying face down against the patient's chest wall, inwhich case the system can further include a patient table, wherein saidscanning pod faces up at a portion of the table configured to receivethe patient's breast when the patient is face down on the table.

The system can further include a camera having a field of view thatincludes the nipple hole and at least a substantial portion of thebreast, and wherein each of the template and the membrane is transparentor at least translucent. Each of the membrane, the template, and atleast a portion of the housing can be sufficiently transparent to allowvisual observation of the breast and the degree or wetness of thecontact between the breast, membrane and template.

The template has an opening angle of more than 160 degrees, or more than165 degrees, or more that 170 degrees, of the opening angle can be morethan 175 degrees and therefore the template may be deemed essentiallyflat.

Some embodiments comprise an automated system for imaging a patient'sbreast with ultrasound, comprising: a rotary template and at least oneultrasound transducer integrated therewith and radially extending from acentral area of the template; said rotary template having an openingangle of at least 150 degrees or being curved with a radius of curvatureof at least 20 cm; a motor configured to rotate the template; a membranewettable with ultrasound couplant gel and shaped and dimensioned to beat least co-extensive with the template; a mounding mechanism supportingthe template and membrane, wherein when the membrane presses chestwardlyagainst the patient's breast with sufficient force, the membrane is inphysical contact with the breast and the template and the at least onetransducer are in physical contact with the membrane; wherein rotationof the template relative to the membrane and the breast with said motorcauses the at least one transducer to scan the breast in a rotary motionand generate a multiplicity of original, two-dimensional (2D) images ofbreast slices extending along respective radially oriented planes.

The rotary template has a nipple hole in a central area thereof, inwhich the breast's nipple extends during said scan with said at leastone transducer. The membrane can also have a nipple opening aligned withthe nipple hole in the template, wherein the breast's nipple extends insaid nipple opening and nipple hole during said scan with said at leastone transducer. The scanning template and at least one transducer canremain laterally spaced from the breast's nipple during said scan. Theat least one transducer can be configured to emit an ultrasound beamthat spreads laterally into an area under the breast's nipple duringsaid scan, and can be configured to operate in the frequency range of5-16 MHz. The template and membrane are transparent or at leastsufficiently translucent to allow visual observation of physical contactbetween the breast, membrane, and template. The system can include apressure gauge configured to show the pressure said membrane and/ortemplate exert on the patient's breast. A camera can be included in themounting structure, together with a display showing the relativepositions of the membrane, template, and breast during said scan and/orin preparation for the scan. The system can further include a table onwhich the patient lies during said scan, wherein said mounting mechanismmoves down to have the membrane make contact with the breast, or thesystem can include a table on which the patient lies face down to havethe breast press against said membrane in a downward motion.

An automated method can be provided for imaging a patient's breast withultrasound, comprising: compressing the breast with one side of amembrane that permits transmission of ultrasound therethrough and ispermeable to ultrasound couplant, and pressing the other side of themembrane with a rotary template that has at least one radially extendingultrasound transducer integrated therewith; positioning the breast'snipple in a nipple hole in the template and a nipple opening in themembrane aligned with said nipple hole; driving the template with amotor to rotate the template and said one or more transducers relativeto the membrane and the breast; generating original, two-dimensional(2D) ultrasound images from outputs of said one or more transducers,which images conform to respective radially oriented planes; andprocessing the original 2D images into other images of the breast anddisplaying selected ones of said original and other images.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing some aspects of a breast ultrasoundscanning device and related methods, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view illustrating further aspects of a breastultrasound scanning device and related methods, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view illustrating further aspects of a breastultrasound scanning device and related methods, according to some otherembodiments;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a top view and perspective view, respectivelyillustrating further aspects of a breast ultrasound scanning device andrelated methods, according to some other embodiments;

FIGS. 5A-D are cross section views illustrating further aspects of abreast ultrasound scanning device and related methods, according to someother embodiments;

FIGS. 5E and 5F are top views illustrating further aspects of a breastultrasound scanning device and related methods, according to some otherembodiments;

FIG. 6 shows various components of a breast ultrasound scanning systemconfigured to scan patients in a supine position, according to someother embodiments;

FIGS. 7A and 7B shows various components of a breast ultrasound scanningsystem configured to scan patients in a prone position, according tosome other embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a transducer mounted on asubstantially flat scanning template, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate a curved transducer mounted on a curved scanningtemplate, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D illustrate further aspects relating toimage processing, including CAD, and display of images by a breastultrasound scanning system, according to some other embodiments; and

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a transducer configured with a spreadingbeam to cover the nipple area for use with a breast ultrasound scanningsystem, according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to some embodiments, a rotary ABUS scanning systems andrelated methods are described which address patient throughput and someor all of the aforementioned drawbacks associated with screening ofasymptomatic patients with known conventional ABUSs systems. Accordingto some embodiments, a rotary scanner is provided that can be used indiagnostic procedures on symptomatic patients, i.e., those who werefound with abnormalities in prior examinations or by patientsthemselves, in addition to or instead of screening asymptotic patients.

In some embodiment, an apparatus and related methods for scanning thebreast with ultrasound are provided. The apparatus includes a patienttable on which the patient can be positioned supine (facing up) orpartly on her side, and an ultrasound scanning pod mounted on an arm ofan ultrasound machine. The ultrasound machine operates an ultrasoundtransducer in the pod and processes the scanned images. A display systemis configured to display the images of scanned slices, a quickreconstructed 3D image, images of coronal slices, and other systeminformation or status to technician/operator. In some embodiments, thedisplay system also shows images of additional scans by hand-heldultrasound transducers on areas of the axilla and under the nipple. Insome embodiments, the display system shows patient positioning andpatient compression images/information. A technician/operator places thescanning pod by chestwardly compressing the pod on the patient's breastwhile the patient is supine or partly on her side on the table. Oncedesirable compression is achieved, in some cases displayed to thetechnician/operator as measured by a pressure sensor, the operator maylock the position of the scanning pod for the duration of scan, whichtypically lasts from 30 seconds to 90 seconds per scan. The scanning podhas a high-frequency (operating in the range of 5-17 MHz) ultrasoundtransducer mounted on a rotating template inside the pod. The scanningpod includes a driving mechanism that is configured to rotate thetemplate to scan the breast. The rotating template preferably is made ofsubstantially transparent or translucent material so that thetechnician/operator can observe the extent of the “wetting of thebreast” to achieve good positioning and contact with the breast. Thecontact of the breast, covered with the usual ultrasonic gel couplant,with the rotating template, preferably is observable to confirm that thebreast is in wet contact with the template. A good contact would showthat the wet area has no air bubbles. A good positioning would show thatthe wetted area is indeed the desired parts of breast to be scanned. Thetemplate can have a hole at a central area for the breast's nipple. Thetemplate can be substantially flat, or essentially planar, or can beconically shaped with a conic angle of more than 150 degrees, or morethan 160 degrees, or more than 170 degrees. When the angle is more than175 degrees but no more than 180 degrees, the template can be consideredsubstantially flat or essentially planar. In some embodiments, thetemplate is slightly curved, with the radius of curvature preferablymore than 20 cm, or preferably more than 30 cm or more. The radius ofcurvature can be relatively large for scanning pods for larger breasts,so that the compressed breast thicknesses are be more uniform in theentire scanning area. This insures good and more uniform penetrationwith high-frequency ultrasound. The quality of ABUS images is influencesby the frequency range of the transducer used, which in turn isdependent on the breast thickness to be scanned. Hooley et al (in“Breast Ultrasonography: State of Art”, Radiology Vol. 268 (2013), pp.642-659), incorporated herein by reference, states that 5-17 MHzfrequency range should only be used on breast thickness of less than 3cm, while much lower frequency range of 5-12 MHz is suitable for thickerbreasts of 5 cm or more. According to some embodiments, the scanningtemplate is substantially flat, or essentially planar, especially forlarger breasts. An example of a substantially flat or essentially planarscanning template is shown in FIG. 8. The optimum number of slices perone rotational scan can be approximately 1,000. These slices aretwo-dimensional original ultrasound images of thin breast slices thatare along radially oriented planes in the breast. According to someembodiments, fewer slices may be used as a pre-scan to facilitate aquick reconstruction of coronal slices to show to thetechnician/operator that there are no positioning, or contact, or tissuepulling errors. Such quick reconstruction of coronal slices can be quitebeneficial since those types of scanning errors are often difficult todetect on 2D scanned images. In addition or instead, a quick 3D image ofthe breast can be reconstructed from fewer than all slices, anddisplayed to the operator.

According to some other embodiments, the transducer/template rotatesover a membrane that can be a fabric or mesh, which remains stationaryduring the scan and covers and holds the breast, so that the rotatingtemplate does not cause pulling of breast tissue. The membrane can becovered or permeated with the usual ultrasonic gel couplant to ensuregood ultrasound contact between the transducer and the breast. Breastcontact is indicated by the extent of the wetting of the breast with thecouplant under visual observation, as the scanning pod is chestwardlycompressed onto the breast. Both the membrane and the ultrasonic gel notonly should be substantially ultrasonically transparent but also shouldbe substantially transparent or translucent visually so that wetting ofthe breast can be observed by the technician/operator to achieve goodpositioning and contact with the breast. Said membrane, fabric or mesh,may be disposed of after one or a few uses, for sanitary reasons.

In some embodiments, the nipple protrudes through a central hole in themembrane and the scanning template, so that the transducer would notscan across the nipple. This would allow easier patient position, andalso removes nipple pain and nipple bump during scanning, which is amajor problem of known current ABUSs, supine or prone. According to someembodiments, a hand operated transducer is provided in addition to thetransducer(s) in the pod, so that the operator can manually scan thenipple area plus the axilla area, which are frequently missed or poorlyacquired by conventional ABUS techniques, and can scan any other area.These hand scanned images can then be added to the final display for thephysicians.

According to some embodiments, a wide-angle camera is provided on orwithin the scanning pod to further ensure good positioning and contactwith the breast. This feature is particularly beneficial for prone ABUSarrangements, where conventional positioning is typically done unaidedor “blind”.

In some embodiments, quickly reconstructed 3D images, and thick slicecoronal images, are shown on a display screen at the scanning unit tothe operator to assure the operator that the image acquisition issatisfactory, i.e. no patient motion, scanning pod slippage andpositioning or contact or tissue pulling problems. In some knownconventional ABUS techniques, only 2D images are displayed to theoperator. These 2D images may be insensitive to breast distortions,positioning and contact errors, and patient motion. Breast distortionsand patient motion can result in poor coronal images and poor CAD(computer-aided diagnosis and detection) results. The quickreconstruction can be made with lower spatial resolution involving fewerscan slices than the typical 1,000 or so slices.

In some embodiments, a multiple number (two or more than 2) rotaryscanning pods are provided in a single rotary scanning system. Providingmultiple scanning pods, each having different sizes, with transducersoperating at different high-frequency ranges, can improve positioningand contact for a wide range of different breast sizes.

All of the embodiments described herein can be applied to supine typeABUS systems as well as to prone type ABUS systems in which the patientis lying face-down on a table and the scanning pod is below thepatient's breast.

Similar to the supine ABUS discussed above, multiple number (more thanone) of differently sized or shaped scanning pods can be included in aprone system, with transducers operating at different high-frequencyranges. Such plural scanning pods can be provided on the same patienttable to cover breasts of different sizes. For additional scans with thehand-held transducer, the patent can turn over on her back or side.

This rotary scanner, although designed specifically for breast cancerscreening of asymptomatic patients, could perform diagnosticexaminations on symptomatic patients. Some special diagnostictechniques, such as “elastography”, “microbubble contrast imaging”,“color Doppler” and “contrast subtraction imaging” could also beperformed with this rotary scanner. Such techniques are known forconventional ultrasound breast imaging, with devices other than therotary scanning described in this patent specification. Forelastography, the simplest procedure is to acquire the breast imagestwice, each time with different degrees of compression. Theincompressibility or lack of changes in the simple ratio of the longestaxis over shortest axis of a lesion gives a good indication of thelesion's malignancy. This simple measure is difficult with 2D images,especially as the malignant lesion, which is not very compressible,frequently slips under compression, yielding erroneous 2Dcompressibility results. More sophisticated elastography involvesvibrating or otherwise inducing motion of the breast and observingdifferences in response to breast motion between suspected lesions andother breast tissue.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing some aspects of a breast ultrasoundscanning device and related methods, according to some embodiments. Theapparatus of FIG. 1 includes an ultrasound scanning pod 101 which has anouter housing 102. A rotating ultrasonic transducer 110, mounted on orintegrated with a rotating template 115, is provided inside housing 102and is driven by a driving mechanism. Two transducers can be used at thesame time, to extend over the entire diameter of the breast to therebyscan the entire breast (possibly omitting the nipple) in half a rotation(plus a small overscan angle), or more than two transducers can be usedat the same time. The scanning pod 101 is held by a supporting arm 103through a ball joint 104. The pod 101 can be positioned over thepatient's breast by the operator using the attached handles 105 and 106.According to some embodiments, a locking mechanism and a pressure gauge120 are installed on the supporting arm 103 so that the scanning pod 101can be locked in place using locking button 150 once satisfactorypositioning and contact have been achieved. Readings from pressure gauge120 can be displayed on pressure indicator display 122 to inform theoperator that a desired pressure has been achieved in the chestwardcompression against the breast. The top cover 107 of housing 102 can bemade of a transparent material to allow the operator to visually guidethe positioning of pod 101 onto the patient's breast. According to someembodiments, a wide-angle camera 108 is located on the top cover 107 orelsewhere within pod 101, preferably in the center, to further aid theoperator in the positioning of the scanning pod 101 on the patient'sbreast. This camera 108 is particularly beneficial for prone type ofABUS systems described in more detail below, since the operator does nothave a good view of the breast while the patient is being positionedface down. The rotary transducer 110 rotates over a fabric membrane 130,which is transparent to ultrasound and permeable to couplant gel, whichmembrane covers and holds the breast while remaining rotationallystationary relative to the housing 102 and the breast during scanning.This configuration has been found to ensure that the rotating templatedoes not cause pulling of breast tissue. During operation, the fabricmembrane 130 is typically covered and permeated with ultrasonic gelcouplant to ensure good ultrasound contact between the transducer andthe breast. According to some embodiments, the fabric membrane 130 isreplaceable. Breast contact can be indicated by the extent of thewetting of the breast under visual observation, as the scanning pod 101is chestwardly compressed onto the breast. Both the fabric membrane 130and the ultrasonic gel coating not only should be substantiallyultrasonically transparent but also should be visually transparent sothat good positioning and contact with the breast can be observed andachieved by the technician/operator. The transducer 110 is mounted on atransparent or at least translucent template 115. According to someother embodiments, template 115 is not in direct contact with thebreast, so that the transducer 110 rotates over the fabric membrane 130which covers and holds the breast. A fabric membrane without a templateis used in known supine ABUSs on the market as well as in a rectilinearscanner discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,731,662, which is incorporatedherein by reference. According to many of the embodiments disclosedherein, the template 115 preferably is in direct contact at all pointswith the fabric membrane 130 and helps the membrane 130 better hold thebreast during the scan. The embodiments disclosed herein differ fromthose in U.S. Pat. No. 7,731,662 in several important ways. In theembodiments disclosed herein, a rotary transducer template, carrying thetransducer, reduces breast motion during scanning. In some embodimentsdisclosed herein, a small nipple hole is added to the fabric membrane toallow the nipple to protrude through the holes in both the scanningtemplate and the fabric membrane to prevent nipple pain and avoid imageartifacts due to passage of the transducer over the nipple. In theembodiments disclosed herein, the fabric membrane is preferably light incolor, or substantially optically translucent when coated withultrasonic gel, so as to allow good visibility of the breast contact.This is particularly beneficial in the prone ABUS systems disclosedherein. A nipple hole 140 is provided in the center of the scanningtemplate 115 to allow the nipple to protrude through the central hole. Amatching hole or opening is provided in the fabric membrane 130, so thatthe transducer does not scan across the nipple. This reduces nipple painduring scanning, which is a major drawback of known conventional ABUSsystems. According to some embodiments, a hand operated transducer (notshown in FIG. 1) is provided so that the operator can manually scan thenipple area plus the axilla area, which are frequently missed or poorlyacquired by most conventional ABUS systems, and/or can scan other areas.These hand scanned images can then be added to the final display for thephysicians or other personnel.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view illustrating further aspects of a breastultrasound scanning device and related methods, according to someembodiments. In this case, the outer housing 102 made up of lowerhousing 202 and upper housing 107. Within lower housing 202 is rotatingtemplate 115 on which rotating transducer 110 is mounted. A peripheralmotor 220 has gears that engage teeth 222 that are mounted on acircumferential strip secured around the outer edge of template 115.Motor 220 is thus configured to rotate the template 115 and transducer110. Also shown in FIG. 2 is membrane fabric 130 which is mounted to thelower housing 220 using ring 230, such as a snap-ring. When compressingthe breast, the membrane 130 and the breast surface are both pushedagainst the rotary template 115. According to some embodiments, thediameter d of the rotating template 115 is between 15 and 25 cm andpreferably is approximately 20 cm, although other dimensions can bechosen. According to some embodiments, the lower surface of template 115is cone-shaped, with a cone angle θ of at least 150 degrees, or at least160 degrees, or at least 170 degrees, or at least 175 degrees. Or, thecone angle is more than 175 degrees but no more than 180 degrees, inwhich case the template is deemed substantially flat or essentiallyplanar. In some cases, the template can be completely flat (cone angle180 degrees), or nearly so. According to some embodiments, the lowersurface of template 115 can be curved or spherical in shape and can havea radius of curvature of at least 20 cm, or at least 30 cm, or more.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view illustrating further aspects of a breastultrasound scanning device and related methods, according to someembodiments. In this case, the upper housing 107 includes a viewingwindow 307 that allows for improved ability to visually guide the pod101 so it is correctly positioned on the breast. In this case, at leastthe upper portion of lower housing 302 is transparent to allow adequateviewing. This arrangement shown offers improved simplicity for supinerotary ABUS systems. According to some embodiments, the support arm 103and ball joint 104 can be mounted in an offset fashion as shown so thatthe operator can better visually guide the breast positioning andachieving optimal breast contact. According to some embodiments, insteadof providing a window 307, a portion or all of the upper housing 107 canbe made of transparent material.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a top view and perspective view, respectively,illustrating further aspects of a breast ultrasound scanning device andrelated methods, according to some embodiments. The rotating template115 and transducer 110 are shown. As seen in FIG. 4A, a window oropening 410 is formed in template 115 that allows transducer 110 to thesecurely held to the template. The lower surface of the transducer 110is flush with the lower surface of template 115, or nearly flush. InFIG. 4B, the circumferential teeth 222 are also illustrated.

FIGS. 5A-D are cross section views illustrating further aspects of abreast ultrasound scanning device and related methods, according to someembodiments. FIG. 5A shows that, according to some embodiments, themembrane fabric 130 and holding ring 230 are configured to detach frompod 101, thereby facilitating easy replacement of membrane fabric 130after each use, or after a few uses. According to some embodiments, themembrane fabric 130 is replaced each time the pod 101 is used for a newpatient.

FIGS. 5B and 5C show the relationship of the scanning pod 101, scanningtemplate 115, transducer 110 and replaceable membrane fabric 130, andthe breast tissue 510, chest wall 512 and nipple 514. In the case ofFIG. 5C, the pod 110 is poorly positioned over the breast since thetransducer 110 would be missing a good portion of the breast andpotentially missing detecting cancers. An image resulting from the poorpositioning shown in FIG. 5C would have an undesirable artifact known asa “crescent moon.” FIG. 5D shows that by moving and repositioning thescanning pod a better positioning is achieved. In this case the lateralmovement shown by arrow 520 improves breast tissue coverage bytransducer 110.

FIGS. 5E and 5F are top views illustrating further aspects of a breastultrasound scanning device and related methods, according to someembodiments. These FIGS. illustrate aspects of a view that could beobserved by an operator during placement of pod 101 (as shown in FIGS.1-3) on a patient's breast. The technician/operator can observe theextent of the “wetting of the breast” to achieve good positioning andcontact with the breast. The contact of the breast, covered with theusual ultrasonic gel couplant, with the rotating template, is observableto see if the breast is in wet contact with the template. A good contactwould show that the wet area has no air bubbles. A good positioningwould show that the wet area is indeed the desired parts of breast to bescanned. The view might be observed through a window ortransparent/translucent portions of the scanning pod, e.g. as shown inFIG. 3, or it might be observed real-time on a display as captured by acamera, e.g. as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 5E illustrates a poorlypositioned pod since it includes a “crescent moon” region 530 as well asan air bubble 532. Such poor positioning is easily detected by theoperator either by live view or view on a display. FIG. 5F shows a viewthat might be observed when there are no longer any pod positioningissues or air bubbles that can deteriorate and image, and a high qualityultrasonic image can be obtained.

FIG. 6 shows various components of a breast ultrasound scanning systemconfigured to scan patients in a supine position, according to someembodiments. The patient lies supine on table 616. As shown, thescanning pod 101 can be attached via support arm 103 to a cart 620. Cart620 also includes a display 630 and a computer processing system 622.Display 630 can be used to show the operator live view from an internalcamera (e.g. camera 108 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), compression information(e.g. from sensor 120 shown in FIGS. 1-3), and/or images of additionalscans by hand-held transducer 640 on areas of axilla and under thenipple or other areas. According to some embodiments, display 630 isalso configured to display the images of scanned slices, results of aquick reconstructed 3D image, coronal slices, and/or other systeminformation or status to the technician/operator. FIG. 6 also shows twoadditional scanning pods 601 and 611 provided on cart 620. Pods 101, 601and 611 can be different sizes and therefore the scanning system can beused or optimized to accommodate a wider range of breast sizes.

For scanning in the prone (patient facing down) position, the scanningpod can be embedded or otherwise secured in or to the patient table in asuitable relationship with the surface of the table. In theseembodiments, a wide-angle camera can beneficially be used to guide theoperator in placing the patient properly such that the patient's nippleprotrudes through the nipple hole (and the aligned opening in themembrane) and further in positioning the breast properly by observingthe extent of the wetting of the breast. According to some embodiments,further positioning adjustments can be provided by having a slightly(few cm in x and y direction in the plane of the table top) movable andlockable table top and/or by moving the table top manually. According tosome embodiments, the scanning pod is fixed relative to a table baserather the table top. Further positioning could be performed by aslightly (few cm in x and y direction in the plane of the table top)movable scanning pod relative to the table top, operated manually orelectronically. In some embodiments, the movable scanning pod could alsobe moved in the z (up and down) direction to improve compression. Apressure sensor and a pressure indicator can be added to inform theoperator of the degree of compression.

FIGS. 7A and 7B shows various components of a breast ultrasound scanningsystem configured to scan patients in a prone position, according tosome embodiments. Scanning pod 710 is mounted on or to the table 716 toscan patients lying in a prone position. In this case, rotating template115, transducer 110, membrane fabric 130 and camera 108 are mountedwithin a housing cavity 702 formed in or secured to table 716. Accordingto some embodiments, the mounting allows for movement of the scanningpod in x, y and/or z (vertical) directions relative to the surface oftable 716. Such relative movement allows the operator to achieve betterpositioning. According to some embodiments movement mechanisms, notshown, are provided that move the scanning pod relative to the table ora portion thereof. According to some embodiments, the table 716 isformed of an upper portion 712 and lower portion 714. The scanning pod701 is mounted so as to remain fixed in the x and y and optionally zdirections relative to the lower portion 714. The upper portion 712 isconfigured to move in the x and y and optionally z directions relativeto the lower portion 714. FIG. 7B shows the upper portion 712 moved inthe x direction relative to the lower portion 714 and scanning pod 701.According to some embodiments additional scanning pods can be provided,e.g. pod 750, that is a different size and/or shape than pod 701 toaccommodate different size breasts, and moved into position to replacepod 701 as needed. Also shown in FIG. 7A is cart 620 that includesdisplay 630, processing system 622 and hand held transducer 640.According to some embodiments, hand held transducer 640 is used to scanthe axilla area and/or the nipple area or other areas while the patientis lying in a supine position or in other positions.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a transducer mounted on asubstantially flat or essentially planar scanning template 815,according to some embodiments. Transducer 110 is shown mounted through aslot in the scanning template 815. When mounted, the surface 814 oftransducer 110 preferably is flush or nearly flush with the lowertemplate surface 820. This configuration allows the template to bettercompress the breast and help the fabric membrane in further holding thebreast in place.

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate a curved transducer mounted on a curved scanningtemplate, according to some embodiments. Shown in FIG. 9A is curvedtransducer 910 mounted to a curved scanning template 915. The shape ofthe lower surface of template 915 can be approximately spherical. Thisconfiguration helps the fabric membrane better hold the breast with morecomfort. According to some embodiments, the average angle preferably iskept to 15 degrees or less to reduce or minimize the breast thicknessacross the scan and thus allow for higher transducer frequencyoperations. This is particularly beneficial in cases of larger breasts.According to some embodiments, the curvature of templates 915 and 910preferably has a radius of curvature r of more than 20 cm. According tosome preferred embodiments, the radius of curvature r is more than 30cm, or even more. FIGS. 9B and 9C shown that the lower surface oftransducer 910 along its short dimension can be flat (surface 914 inFIG. 9B) or curved (surface 916 in FIG. 9C).

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate further aspects relating to imageprocessing, including CAD, and display of images by a breast ultrasoundscanning system, according to some embodiments. FIG. 10A illustrates areconstructed 3D volume 1001 from approximate 1,000 2D scan slices ofthe breast. The center hole 1004 represents the nipple hole. A stack ofcoronal slices is constructed parallel to the chestwall plane 1009.These coronal slices can represent selected thicknesses of breasttissue, for example a slice that is 0.2 cm thick, or 0.5 cm, or 1 cm, orsome other thickness, FIG. 10B shows a display which can be display 630on cart 620 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7A or can be another display used bya radiologist or other reviewer. A navigator image 1020 depicts theresults of CAD, computed from the volumetric images shown in FIG. 10A. Asuspicious lesion 1022 is shown in the navigator image 1020. By placingthe mouse cursor over the suspicious lesion in the navigator image 1020or otherwise pointing to the lesion, the system is configured toautomatically show where the suspicious lesion 1022 appears in one ormore of three 2D images: (a) a coronal image 1010, (b) the constructed2D plane 1008, and (c) a reconstructed orthogonal 2D image 1006, whichis orthogonal to slice 1008. Coronal images such as 1010 and slicesimages such as 1008 and 1006 can be derived by computer processing the3D image of the breast using known techniques. These three 2D images andtheir relative special relationships are also shown in FIG. 10A. Thismethod of using the CAD navigator image as a guide to the suspiciouslesion in three 2D images can be very important to the reader physicianin the determination of the degree of suspiciousness and in speeding upthe assessment of a patient study. The CAD navigator image shows all theabnormalities found with CAD computation of the volumetric data. Thenavigator image 1020 can further show the degree of suspiciousness ofthe abnormalities found. With the help of CAD, the reader physician cango with confidence and speed through the information that the 1000 or so2D images provide.

Also shown in FIG. 10B on the display screen, two small images areshown, representing respectively the hand-held scan results of theaxilla area (image 1040) and the nipple area (image 1042).

FIGS. 10C and 10D are otherwise similar to FIGS. 10A and 10B but show aslice image 1060 that is an original image of a radially oriented thinslice of the breast and image 1009 that represents a breast slice thatis orthogonal to the slice in image 1060. In this example, navigatorimage 1020 shows a suspicious area 1022 and, in response to a userpointing to that area in the navigator image, for example with a cursor,the system automatically shows the original slice image 1060 thatcontains that suspicious area and an image 1065 of a slice that isorthogonal to the slice of image 1060 and contains the same suspiciousarea. In some cases, a display such as in FIG. 10D may be preferred overa display such as in FIG. 10B because the original slice image seen inFIG. 10D is an image of a type that may be more familiar to a physicianreading the patient study. FIG. 10D also shows optional images 1040 and1042 that come from hand scans. The system can be configured to show avariety of sets and sequences of images, for example, to show the 2Doriginal images as they are being generated, radially oriented imagesconforming to any desired orientation through a 3D image of the breast,coronal images in a sequence or in a set, selected thicknesses ofcoronal images, or other sets of sequences of images.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a transducer configured with a spreadingultrasound beam to cover the nipple area for use with a breastultrasound scanning system, according to some embodiments. In this casescanning transducer 1110 is configured to spread the scanning beam underthe nipple 514 to cover the nipple area of breast 510. Transducer 1110can be used with a scanning system as described herein (e.g. instead oftransducers 110 and/or 910). FIG. 11B shows that the resultantreconstructed 3D volume 1101 would not have a nipple hole 1104. Forexample, a constructed 2D plane image 1108 does not have a gap in thenipple region.

Although many of the embodiments of rotary scanning system are describedherein as designed for breast cancer screening on asymptomatic patients,according to some embodiments, the described systems perform diagnosticexam on symptomatic patients. Some special diagnostic techniques, suchas “elastography”, “microbubble contrast imaging”, and “contrastsubtraction imaging” could be better performed with the rotary scannerdisclosed herein. Simple elastography can be carried out by comparingimages from two compressions of different pressures. The highprobability lesions would show less volumetric distortion with increasedpressure compression. Volumetric imaging is very suited to microbubblecontrast imaging since the microbubbles disappear very quickly. Contrastsubtraction imaging can be done by subtract volumetric images before andafter contrast injection. Also, a suspicious lesion could be easilyfollowed over time to observe its changes.

Whereas many alterations and modifications of the examples describedabove will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in theart after having read the foregoing description, it is to be understoodthat the particular embodiments shown and described by way ofillustration are in no way intended to be considered limiting. By way ofexample, it is to be appreciated that any of a variety of differentframe assemblies can be used that position, compress, rotate, andotherwise manipulate the scanning template, whether the scanningtemplate and/or any membrane used therewith are permanently used andre-used for different patients or one or both of them are disposed aftereach patient, without departing from the scope of the present teachings.Moreover, in one or more alternative preferred embodiments, the basicprofile of the radial scanning template can be elliptically shaped,etc., rather than strictly circular-shaped as indicated in some of theattached drawings. The scanning surface of the ultrasound transducer canbe arched or make to conform to another curved surface in a similarmanner, if desired. The specification above refers to scanning thebreast of a supine patient, but some deviation from a supine position isallowable, such as having the patient lying partly or even mostly on herside while her breast is being scanned with the transducer in the pod.Therefore, references to the details of the embodiments are not intendedto limit their scope.

1-23. (canceled)
 24. An automated system for scanning a patient's breastwith ultrasound, comprising: plural scanning pods each having: ahousing, a scanning template secured to the housing and configured torotate relative to the housing, said template having a nipple hole; aviewing facility configured to provide a user with a view of thescanning template; at least one transducer radially extending outwardlyfrom the template's nipple hole and integrated with the template torotate therewith; and a motor configured to rotate the template and theat least one transducer relative to the housing; wherein the scanningtemplate of at least some of said plural scanning pads is essentiallyplanar or has an opening angle greater than 150 degrees; wherein thetemplates of said plural scanning pod differ from each other in shapeand/or size to thereby accommodate breasts of different sizes forscanning with different pods; a support concurrently supporting saidplural scanning pods and configured to respond to a selection of one ofthe pods for aligning the selected pod with a patient's breast and tocompress the breast with the template of the selected pod toward thepatient's chest wall to thereby at least partly flatten the breast, withthe breast's nipple aligned with the nipple hole of the template;wherein said at least one transducer of the selected scanning pod isconfigured to make ultrasound contact with the breast while the templateof the selected scanning pod is pressing the breast, and to rotatablyscan the breast with said at least one transducer of the selected pod tothereby generate plural, radially oriented, original two-dimensional(2D) images of the breast; a computer processing system configured toreceive said 2D original images and to process them into at least onethree-dimensional (3D) image of the breast; and an ultrasound imagedisplay coupled with the processing system to display at least some ofsaid images.
 25. The system of claim 24, in which said viewing facilityof at least one of said scanning pods comprises a camera supportedinside the scanning pod.
 26. The system of claim 25, further including apatient table with an opening into which a prone patient's breastextends, wherein the selected pod is configured to move up relative tothe table to compress the patient's breast.
 27. The system of claim 24,in which the template of at least some of said plural scanning pods hasan opening angle greater than 175 degrees and therefore is essentiallyflat.
 28. The system of claim 28, further including a membrane betweenthe template of the selected scanning and the breast compressedtherewith, said membrane having a nipple hole through which the breastnipple protrudes into said nipple hole of the template.
 29. The systemof claim 24, wherein said viewing facility of at least some of saidscanning pods comprises a viewing window in the housing thereof.
 30. Thesystem of claim 24, in which said at least one transducer of theselected pod remains laterally spaced from the breast's nipple whilescanning the breast.
 31. The system of claim 24, in which said at leastone transducer of the selected pod is configured to emit an ultrasoundbeam that spreads laterally under the breast's nipple and provide imagedata for a volume under the nipple.
 32. A method of imaging a patient'sbreast with ultrasound comprising the steps of: providing pluralscanning pods on a common support, each of said pods having a scanningtemplate that differs in size and/or shape from at least another one ofthe pods; including in each of the scanning pods: (i) a scanningtemplate that is configured to rotate over the breast while the podpresses the breast chestwordly; (ii) a viewing facility for viewing thetemplate pressing against the breast to show whether the breast is inwet contact with the template and what portion of the breast is incontact with the template, and (iii) an ultrasound transducer configuredto rotate with the template; wherein the including step comprisesincluding in at least some of said plural scanning pods a scanningtemplate having a nipple hole for the breast's nipple and having anopening angle greater than 150 degrees or a radius greater than 20 cm;selecting one of said plural pods and pressing the selected podchestwardly against the breast; acquiring radially oriented images ofthe chestwardly compressed breast with said ultrasound transducer of theselected pod while the template and the transducer thereof rotate overthe breast; and computer-processing said radially oriented images toproduce differently oriented images of the breast.
 33. The method ofclaim 35, in which said observing step comprises displaying an output ofa video camera included in the selected pods and viewing the templateand breast.
 34. The method of claim 35, in which the compressing stepcomprises compressing the breast of a patient lying face-down on a tablewith an opening through which the breast extends down and moving theselected pod up relative to the table to compress the breast.
 35. Themethod of claim 35, in which the compressing step comprises compressingthe breast of a patient lying on her back or side and moving theselected pod down and/or sideways to compress the breast.
 36. A systemfor imaging a patient's breast with ultrasound, comprising: a first,essentially flat rotary template with a centrally located nipple hole; afirst rotary ultrasound transducer radially extending from the nipplehole; a first housing configured to support the template and thetransducer for rotation relative to the housing; a table with an openingconfigured for the patient's breast to extend into when the patient isface-down in the table; a first motor configured to selectively rotatethe template and transducer relative to the housing; wherein saidtemplate and transducer are configured to move up to compress thepatient's breast chestwardly at said opening in the table; saidtransducer being configured to produce radial ultrasound images of thebreast that conform to chestwardly directed, radially oriented planeswhile the template and transducer are pressed against the breast and themotor is rotating the template and transducer to scan the breast; avideo camera unit configured to image the template and a breastcompressed thereby and to display images from the camera, includingimages of both the template and the breast and the presence of absenceof wet contact of the template with at least a selected portion of thebreast; and a computer processing said radial ultrasound images toproduce display images of the breast that differ in orientation fromsaid radial ultrasound images.
 37. The system of claim 36, furtherincluding a second housing commonly supported with the first housing andhaving a second scanning template that differs in size and/or shape fromthe template of the first housing and further having a second ultrasoundtransducer and a second motor configured to rotate the second transducerand the second template relative to the second housing, said systembeing configured to select one of said first and second housing forscanning a patient's breast to facilitate a preferred match between thebreast and the size and/or shape of the scanning template.
 38. Thesystem of claim 36, further including in at least one of said first andsecond housings a pressure sensor configured to measure an indication ofpressure that the respective template or transducer exerts on the breastand a display configured to show the measured indication of pressure.